Supplies of essential medicines, fuel into Gaza ‘very low,’ says WHO chief

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has deplored the appalling conditions in the Gaza Strip, stating that supplies of essential medicines and fuel in the territory are very low since the Israeli army has seized and closed the Rafah border crossing.

“Entry of emergency medical teams and medical supplies through the Rafah border crossing into Gaza has been blocked since May 6. Inside the strip, supplies of essential medicines and fuel are very low, and movement is limited due to security constraints,” Ghebreyesus wrote in a post published on the social platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Evacuation orders, intensified bombardment, and no passage for aid across Gaza continue to put civilian lives and health at grave risk,” he added.

The WHO chief further noted that reports of intense hostilities in the vicinity of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, and an increased influx of injured patients to the medical facility are deeply worrisome given the hospital’s limited capacity to provide care.

“We have lost the words to describe the situation in Gaza. It is high time for a ceasefire and peace for the civilians there,” he added.

Meanwhile, Salama Marouf, Gaza’s Government Media Office spokesman, told reporters that Israeli forces are “purposefully worsening the humanitarian situation by halting the entry of aid supplies from the Rafah and Karem Abu Salem border crossings, and by targeting hospitals and schools in eastern Rafah.”

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Gaza

The remarks come as the Israeli military has threatened a major assault on Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip along the border with Egypt. The city is a refuge for more than 1.4 million Palestinians who have fled aggression farther north in the coastal sliver under the Israeli army’s previous evacuation orders.

According to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), an average of 200 people are leaving Rafah every hour – mainly to Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and to the widely destroyed southern city of Khan Younis.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory operation into the occupied territories.

Concomitantly with the war, the regime has been enforcing a near-total siege on the coastal territory, which has reduced the flow of foodstuffs, medicine, electricity, and water into the Palestinian territory into a trickle.

The Israeli war has killed at least 35,456 Gazans, most of them women, children, and adolescents. Another 79,476 Palestinians have sustained injuries as well.

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